Conference features treatment options for kids with autism By Terry Oparka Heidi Scheer was overwhelmed when she received a call on a Friday afternoon from her son’s preschool teacher and heard the word “autism” associated with Dannon for the first time. Scheer spent the entire weekend on the Internet, searching for resources. She found Dr. Phillip DeMio, a biomedical treatment physician, and made the three-hour trip to his Cleveland offices to seek treatment for Dannon. She credits a three-pronged course of treatments — chelation to remove heavy metals from his system, changes to his diet and hyperbaric oxygen therapy — for his recovery. Before treatment, his preschool teachers had classified Dannon as speech and language impaired. “He hit all the milestones until his 15-month doctor’s appointment, when he got his MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and had diarrhea that lasted for three years,” she said. “He used words (before biomedical treatment), but had robotic speech and couldn’t form sentences. He had no sense of fear and couldn’t get along with his peers, and bit other children,” she said. Scheer and her husband removed gluten from Dannon’s diet, and they noticed changes in three weeks. “He also stopped biting other children and said his first complete sentence, ‘I love you, Mommy.’” “It was as if he processed my words to him, ‘I love you, Dannon,’ in slow motion,” she said. Scheer says that Dannon, now 9, is an “incredible” reader, a whiz on the computer, and memorizes speeches to introduce his parents at conferences on autism. She will share her family’s story at the second International Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders in Troy March 26-28. Conference topics will include: DeMio, founder of the American Medical Autism Board and Chief Medical Officer of the U.S. Autism and Asperger Association, and his wife, Joyce DeMio, a nutrition expert, will speak at the conference. The DeMios’ son Daniel, now 9 1/2, is autistic. “Autistic kids are medically different than other people,” Philip DeMio said. “Symptoms can include marked, terrible abdominal pain, pain in fingers and toes, and headaches, symptoms that mainstream doctors don’t often accept.” He believes that biomedical treatment for autism is the closest thing to a cure, and that with treatment, all kids can have varying degrees of recovery, with some being vastly improved. “Some children are still severely affected, but much calmer,” he said. DeMio says he holds the conference in the Detroit area because he has great affection for Detroit and loves the diversity of the area. He completed a portion of his medical training in Dearborn, and his largest group of out-of-town patients come from metro Detroit. “I can’t wait to have the conference,” he said. “Parents need help 24 hours a day. Parents of autistic kids often feel like they are in the center of a busy train station.” He said that the aim of the conference is to help parents of newly diagnosed children know what is available, what do to do and how to deal with it. The cost to attend is $179 for all three days and $79 for a one-day session. Physician and other health care professional rates to attend start at $119 per day. The conference will be held March 26-28 at the MET Hotel, 5500 Crooks, in Troy. Register online at www.asdboards.com. You can reach Staff Writer Terry Oparka at (586) 498-1054 or toparka@candgnews.com.
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